Jenny Pox Second Anniversary Celebration!

Jenny Pox is turning 2 today! I'm sure a lot of you will have heard of this fantastic series yet, but I read the first two books so far and it's a great horror series that you absolutely must check out! I have JL Bryan dropping by with an Ashleigh-esque (the awesome love-to-hate villain) guest post. AND, you even get a chance to win a full set of Jenny Pox, Tommy Nightmare, and Alexander Death, autographed and inscribed to the winner!

Jenny Pox
J.L. Bryan
Series: The Paranormals, #1
Release date: July 22nd, 2010

 

Eighteen-year-old Jenny Morton has a horrific secret: her touch spreads a deadly supernatural plague, the "Jenny pox." She lives by a single rule: Never touch anyone. A lifetime of avoiding any physical contact with others has made her isolated and painfully lonely in her small rural town.

Then she meets the one boy she can touch. Jenny feels herself falling for Seth...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the deadly pox inside her to confront his ruthless and manipulative girlfriend Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.
* * *

Not recommended for readers under eighteen.

 Following books:

Tommy Nightmare
J.L. Bryan
Series: The Paranormals, #2
Release date: April 1st, 2011

 

While Fallen Oak recovers from the Jenny pox, someone new is hunting Jenny. Like Jenny, Ashleigh Goodling belonged to a pair of opposites with powers that mirror each other. Now Jenny and Seth must face the opposite of love...

Alexander Death

J.L. Bryan

Series: The Paranormals, #3

Release date: September 19th 2011

 

While Seth searches for Jenny, Dr. Heather Reynard of the CDC unravels Seth and Jenny's secrets. Alexander opens Jenny's mind to her deep past, and to the full horrific extent of her powers. Torn between her feelings for Alexander and Seth, and between her past lives and her present, Jenny must prepare to face her enemies in the final, catastrophic battle...

Guest post with J.L. Bryan

 Happy Birthday to Jenny Pox – and a major Jenny Pox announcement!

Today is the second anniversary of the publication of Jenny Pox!  And that makes it a great day to announce that there will be a fourth Jenny Pox book, something I wasn’t expecting.  It will be out this fall...details to follow in the near future!

At each stop, we’ll do a quick biography of one of the six paranormal characters from the series.  Exclusive for readers of Xpresso Reads, here’s an brief introduction to Ashleigh, a girl who seems sweet and lovely but is actually a wicked, manipulative monster.  Thanks for hosting, Giselle!

Who is Ashleigh?

Ashleigh Goodling is the preacher’s daughter at one of the town’s two churches. Cheerleader, student council president, valedictorian.  Her paranormal touch has a Cupid-like effect of making people feel love—love for her, or love for each other.  Her hobbies include creating conflict and controversy, amassing and wielding power, and destroying anyone who gets in her way, always pulling strings in the background so that she continues to look like an innocent angel.  Her goal in life is to become President of the United States, and she’s clearly on her way.

Ashleigh has the town wrapped around her little finger, except one person...Jenny.  Because of Jenny’s pox, Ashleigh can’t touch her, and so she can’t control her.  Ashleigh has always made Jenny’s life difficult, but now that her boyfriend Seth might be falling for Jenny, Ashleigh is ready to unleash hell...leaving Jenny no choice but to fight back.

If you haven’t seen it, here’s the Jenny Pox trailer:



The Jenny Pox ebook is currently free on Amazon, Smashwords, Apple, Sony, and Kobo, and cheap on Nook!

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 JL Bryan's Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

J.L. Bryan studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at Oxford, with a focus on English Renaissance and Romantic literature. He also studied screenwriting at UCLA. He lives in Atlanta with his wife Christina, dogs Violet and Tiger Lily, and cats Shadow and Sue. 

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (13)

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews featuring the books
I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week.

This week at Xpresso Reads

How are all of my gorgeous readers doing? I hope your summer's amazing and warm. I also hope you're all enjoying the fabulous summer releases because wow they are aplenty! On the blog this week I posted a giveaway for an ARC of Envy by Elizabeth Miles in case you missed it. I'm also very happy to have been selected as one of the bloggers who will be on the Authors are Rockstars tour. So make sure to stop by on August 24th to meet my rockstar!

My reviews this week:

Stacking the Shelves

As some of you can't or don't like to watch vlogs, the pictures are below! 

Vlog note: One ebook missing from vlog - On The Island - pictured below.
I was in a hurry so don't mind the spazzy speed talking.

Click on covers or title links below for Goodreads

I got for review: 

 

-Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

-Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

-Origin by Jessica Khoury

*Thanks so much to St Martin's Press, Penguin Canada, Macmillan, and Penguin Group USA for the review copies*

I was gifted:

My awesome friend Jenni from Alluring Reads gifted me this amazing, shiny pretty! Thanks SO much, dollface!

Can't get enough of me?

You can also follow my reviews on Goodreads!

What awesomeness did you get this week?
Leave me a link! :)

Fresh Batch (July 22nd - 28th)

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Red Heart Tattoo
Lurlene McDaniel
Release date: July 24th 2012
by Random House Children's Books

 

At 7:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving break, a bomb goes off at Edison High. Nine people die instantly. Fifteen are critically injured. Twenty-two suffer less severe injuries. And one is blinded. Those who survive, struggle to cope with the loss and destruction. All must find new meaning for their lives as a result of something they may never understand.

Lurlene McDaniel's signature expertise and finesse in dealing with issues of violence, death, and physical as well as emotional trauma in the lives of teens is immediate and heartrending.

Click here for an excerpt!

 Lurlene's Website / Goodreads / Facebook

Lurlene McDaniel (born c. 1948) is an author who has written over 50 young adult books. She is well known for writing about characters struggling with chronic and terminal illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, and organ failure.

Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits
Katie McGarry
Release date: July 31st 2012
by Harlequin Teen

 

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

*A copy was provided by Harlequin Teen for review purposes*

It's no secret that this book has been getting insane reviews. Being the persistent black sheep that I am, I was incredibly wary of the hype it was garnering, certain that it would fail to impress me. Oh boy. Oh freaking boy!! Was I ever wrong. I loved this so hard!

Echo and Noah… Echo. Noah. Nocho?

Echo has been through an extremely distressing, life altering ordeal because of which she's suffering post-traumatic stress, with the worst side effect being memory loss. She doesn't remember what happened. All she has are the scars. From popular to outsider, Echo's troubled state-of-mind is harsh and unstable. One of the best character development I've read, she made me a part of her. With only the span of a few pages, she had me immersed in her world, in her heart and soul. Every layer of her being is gradually being laid out for us to become equally mesmerized and perplexed by. Her scars, her babysitter-turned-stepmother, her dead brother, along with her PTSD, she has the world on her shoulders and I was right there alongside her, sharing the weight.

With an equally burdened soul, Noah only wants two things: Jacob, and Tyler. After his parents died in a fire, the three brothers have been in the foster system and Noah wants nothing more than his family back together. The emotions in his perspective begin from our very first glance into his melancholy life. His relationship with his brothers brought tears to my eyes, pulling me in wholeheartedly. He may be tortured and angry - the perfect bad boy image -, yet, underneath his tough exterior he's a loving, caring person who would move heaven and earth for those boys, and, eventually, for Echo. This is a wonderful example of a perfectly woven dual perspective. Both characters are highly vivid, evoking powerful emotions that truly connect the reader to each character. Sketching them one page at a time.

Romantic. Passionate. Frustrating. Filled to the brink with chemistry. The love story in Pushing the Limits is raw. This is true love at its purest form, with sacrifices and compromises, incredible obstacles, and learning to trust without holding back. Like true love, it's not easy, and it's not always painless. We're dealing with two damaged individuals who need to find themselves before they let themselves find each other. Covering a lot more ground than the love story itself, we get intense, emotional ups and downs that just about gave me heart palpitations. While reading, I quickly lost myself in this incredibly enchanting story, experiencing a multitude of complex emotions. By the time I put this book down, I had a heavy heart and a set smile.

Combining love and loss, friendship and family, the unfairnesses of life and the determination to overcome them, Pushing the Limits is a book that is not only to be read, but cherished. This is one gem that shines!

5 Hot Espressos

Review: Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

Perfect Escape
Jennifer Brown
Release date: July 10th 2012
by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

 

Kendra has always felt overshadowed by her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD forces him to live a life of carefully coordinated routines. The only way Kendra can stand out next to Grayson is to be perfect, and she has perfection down to an art -- until a cheating scandal threatens her flawless reputation.

Behind the wheel of her car, with Grayson asleep beside her, Kendra decides to drive away from it all -- with enough distance, maybe she'll be able to figure everything out. But eventually, Kendra must stop running and come to terms with herself, her brother, and her past.

With undeniable grace and humor, acclaimed author Jennifer Brown explores OCD, the pressure for perfection, and the emotional highs and lows of a complex sibling relationship.

 *A copy was provided by Hachette Book Group Canada for review purposes*

 

Road trip books can go from kookie to serious to fun to depressing. Perfect Escape is a beautiful story that has the perfect blend of happy and sad, leaving us with a heartfelt tale about a girl trying to escape her life, and, hopefully, her brother's OCD.

Overshadowed by her brother's illness her whole life, Kendra is struggling to achieve perfection. She's become an overachiever so that she can balance out Grayson's imperfection. We don't notice Kendra's crumbling mental state at first. She's strong-willed and selfless. Later, as the story moves along, as we learn how hard hard she is on herself, as we see how deeply one person's OCD affects a whole family, we begin to notice the cracks in her seemingly perfect facade. Her character grows and evolves throughout the story, making her someone I could easily sympathize with. I understood her instead of condemning her for her hasty, sometimes terrible, decisions. Her brother Grayson is equally, if not more, compelling. Having OCD, he's a fascinating character study. I've always been intrigued by mental illnesses and we get a first look at all the ups and downs of an often misunderstood disorder. With these highs and lows comes great character depth; Grayson is a very well-rounded, three dimensional character that will wedge himself right into your hearts. The siblings relationship that these two have is by far my favorite part of this novel. They bicker and disagree, they relive memories and laugh about old times - they know each other to through and through, and love each other unconditionally despite it all. I adored this. This impenetrable connection and fierce protectiveness that they share for each other is simply wonderful and glows right through the pages.

Unlike many road trip novels, we don't meet a slew of colourful, though irrelevant, characters over the course of their trip. The people we do meet have a big impact on the story. They weave their way into Kendra and Grayson's journey, becoming exceptional characters that will forever leave a mark on their hearts - and ours. The many adventures and stops on the way is filled with amusing anecdotes and tender moment, in addition to more serious, emotional developments. Though not abrupt, it's not a straight up, cut and dried ending filled with closure. Like life, we don't get everything resolved, we get hope. Hope and belief that everything will work out. Because oftentimes in life, it's the only thing we've got.

Highly character driven and dealing with very real issues, Perfect Escape will make you feel every emotion you can muster. If you loved Saving June, and fans of contemporary novels focusing on mental illness and sibling relationships must add this to their reading list!

5 Hot Espressos